As part of its ongoing commitment to the Fit For Function: Fit For Life campaign, the Kennel Club has announced a new requirement for Gundog judges prior to their approval to award KC Challenge Certificates (CCs) for the first time, H&C has learned.

For questionnaires received on or after 1st January 2011, the provisions for the approval of show judges for each breed in the Gundog group will include a mandatory requirement that they attend a Kennel Club Field Trial at Open Stake level, or an Open Gundog Working Test for the relevant gundog sub-group, before being considered to award Kennel Club Challenge Certificates for the first time.

Ronnie Irving, Chairman of the Kennel Club, commented, “This is a very important step forward in the Kennel Club’s commitment to the health and welfare of dogs through the Fit for Function: Fit for Life campaign. It is aimed at ensuring that show judges in the Gundog group have a clear understanding of a breed’s function and are able to use this understanding to interpret Breed Standards in the show ring. This should ensure that only fit and healthy dogs are rewarded. I also hope that it will help lead to a lessening of some of the exaggerated features that occasionally appear even in some gundog breeds.”

As well as supporting the Fit For Function: Fit For Life campaign by giving judges an insight into the work which gundogs carry out, this initiative is in line with two of the Kennel Club’s key objectives: recognising the importance of canine health and welfare, and encouraging the development of all those concerned with dogs through education and training.

The Kennel Club wishes to ensure that Gundog judges at shows fully understand the link between the working function of a breed and its construction and fitness, and that they judge dogs according to whether they are healthy and fit for function.